Volleyball extends win streak to 14 at Blue Devil Invitational

The volleyball team stayed perfect Oct. 2 and Oct. 3 at the Blue Devil Invitational, winning three matches to improve its record to 18–1 on the season. With the wins, the Bombers have pushed their winning streak to 14 consecutive matches.

The Bombers swept SUNY Fredonia 3–0 on Oct. 2, winning the sets 25–21, 25–23 and 25–20. The South Hill squad collected 31 kills on and a .098 hitting percentage in a match that was deadlocked almost the entire time. The Blue and Gold were able to take control in the end of each set to come out victorious against the Blue Devils.

Freshman middle hitter Katie Evans led the South Hill squad’s offensive attack, registering eight kills on the night to go along with one service ace and one block. Sophomore captain Joelle Goldstein followed suit with seven kills and an ace of her own. Freshman middle Amanda Cerruti was strong for the Bombers at the net, collecting five blocks in the match, to go along with four kills. Rounding out the Bombers’ offense was freshman Hailey Adler, who finished the evening with six kills and two aces. Sophomore captain and setter Kayla Gromen collected 25 assists for the Blue and Gold.

The squad faced one of its toughest challenges of the season when facing SUNY Canton. The Kangaroos took the Bombers to five sets, but the Blue and Gold emerged victorious, winning the match 3–2. The South Hill squad won the first two sets 26–24 and 25–23, but dropped the third and fourth sets 19–25 and 24–26. The Bombers pulled away in the fifth set, winning 15–10.

The Bombers collected 56 kills on .148 hitting percentage and benefitted from 10 service errors from SUNY Canton. Goldstein led all Bombers with 15 kills, nine digs and one assist. Close behind was fellow sophomore Caroline Gerulskis, registering 12 kills and five blocks for the Bombers. Adler and Evans rounded out the top offensive performers for the Blue and Gold, finishing with 11 kills and four blocks and eight kills and five blocks, respectively. Gromen led the South Hill squad with 49 assists in the match.

Gawinski-Stern finished the match with a season-high 23 digs to lead the Bombers’ defense. Adler tallied 17 digs and Gromen and Goldstein finished with 10 and nine digs, respectively.

Sophomore captain Kayla Gromen was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while Goldstein and freshman Kyle Dandrea both earned places on the all-tournament team.

The Bombers finished up their perfect weekend with a sweep of Hilbert College, winning the sets 25–10, 25–13 and 25–15. The Bombers collected 32 kills on .288 to the Hawks’ 17 kills on a .025 hitting percentage.

The Bombers were led offensively by Dandrea, who had eight kills in the match. Adler and Cerruti also helped the offensive attack, finishing with six kills and four kills, respectively. Adler also collected two service aces and Cerruti was strong at the net, finishing with two blocks.

Junior Breanne Tuohy rounded out the Blue and Gold’s offense, finishing with four kills and three aces. Gromen lead the Bombers in assists with 25 in the match and also added two aces and six digs.

Sophomore Izabella Mocarski led the Bombers’ defense with nine digs and added four service aces as well. Wierda rounded out the defensive effort for the Blue and Gold with eight digs.

The Bombers are back in action 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at Ben Light Gymnasium when they take on SUNY Cortland.